Silo District top 10: Where it's as much about food and cocktails as it is about design

Its own uber trendy metropolis, the Silo District in Cape Town offers stylish restaurants and bars to match it's arty appeal. Here's where to eat and drink.

by: Lisa Wallace | 23 Jan 2018

images: Restaurant's own

The Silo District is endlessly cool and cosmopolitan. Wandering its urban "streets" and arty alleyways makes you feel like you're in a different country – although, simultaneously it makes you feel like you're rightly in Africa — it is so Cape Town! With the industrial silos looking down on you, and the many new boutiques, galleries and restaurants offering art goers a curious medley of designer wares and menus, it's easily a favourite on the Mother City's sight map.

After browsing contemporary art, local design and exclusive wares, you're bound to get peckish. Here's our list of must-visit restaurants.

Set inside the jaw-dropping Zeitz MOCAA, FOOD provides breathtaking 270-degree views from its level six home. Inspired by local ingredients and South African flavours, FOOD ticks all the boxes of benevolent sustainability – SASSI friendly, carb conscious, healthy and delicious. With a focus on flavour, diners will notice (and taste) the clever use of ingredients and homey goodness.

Inspired and influenced by the Med, Si Cantina Sociale offers an elegant and stylishly furnished industrial loft-like space with an excellent assortments of dishes, from tasty tapas to filling and delicious mains, not to mention cocktails and a well-curated wine list. Open from 7am Monday to Sunday, you can visit the stylish cantina for just about any occasion: breakfast, lunch, business meetings, happy hour, date night, after-work cocktails and your evening nightcap.

A must-try are the flat breads, a 48-hour matured multi-grain or gluten-free dough with assorted toppings.

An exciting hybrid concept store-cum-bistro bar that features a retail and dining experience, The Yard offers a modish space (leather booths, industrial charcoal light fittings and gorgeous wooden tables and parquet floors). Taking its name from the maritime dockyards in the surrounding waterfront, The Yard offers an experience that you yourself can tailor: a retail experience featuring local homeware and accessories, a deli fridge where you can pick up cured meats and cheeses, a fresh salad and warm buffet section, Rosetta Roastery Coffee, a well-stocked bar and restaurant dining space. Expect a medley of food and flavours, from Indian to Asian to Mediterranean and South African.

With Executive Chef Veronica Canha-Hibbert at the helm, The Silo Hotel offers a range of dining experiences featuring casual and contemporary menus that include lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, bar snacks and even a Sunday Roast. She believes in honest food that showcases seasonal, local ingredients.

Relax after work in The Willaston Bar and enjoy a selection of bar snacks. The Granary Café offers a more formal dining experience while The Silo Rooftop is the ideal spot for a sunset cocktail or a casual lunch.

From a delicious Eggs Benedict to simple soft boiled eggs served with Healey’s Cheddar soldiers, breakfasts at The Granary Café are the most delicious start to the day, while lunch offers a short but diverse menu incorporating contemporary interpretations of delicious grill house classics, including beef tartare, prawn cocktail, steak frites and a fresh seafood bouillabaisse. Book your spot at the Sunday table for the weekly roast, already a firm favourite among Capetonians.

Willaston Bar

Relax after work in The Willaston Bar and enjoy a selection of cocktails and bar snacks, second to the unmatched views of Cape Town through the 5.5m high pillowed glass windows. Situated on the sixth floor of the hotel, the bar is named after the first ship to export grain from the original silo complex in 1924. Sip on a classic cocktail (their negronis are excellent) or a glass of wine from the carefully crafted and always evolving list of local and international wines. For early risers, a light a la carte breakfast is available in The Willaston Bar from 8am until midday, while Afternoon Tea is available daily at R160 per person.

The Silo Rooftop

A relaxed, easy-going experience with the most incredible 360 degree views of Cape Town (walk around the rooftop so that you can experience the city from every angle). Look forward to poolside lounging complemented by treats from the tempura bar, fresh oysters, pulled pork sandwiches and a selection of healthy snacks from the raw bar. (Note that The Silo Rooftop is for hotel guests and is open to the public by prior reservation only.)

LINDT Chocolate Studio

The LINDT Boutiques, dotted all over the world, are the ultimate chocolate destinations – a unique, hands-on and delicious way that chocolate lovers can experience their favourite food. Now open in the Silo District, the LINDT Chocolate Studio offers not only a quaint chocolaterie, but also chocolate making classes, tasting and pairing, not to mention beautifully wrapped gifts and friendly service from people who love chocolate as much as you do! Book your first experience here.

NOW NOW

Expanding their first take-away concept space in Longmarket Street, Woolworths has opened a NOW NOW in the Silo District square, offering commuters and visitors on-the-go café-style fare, served fast and efficiently. Get breakfast, lunch, snacks, coffee and juices on-the-go, take a seat on the steps soaking in the Silo District's industrial charm, or at the V&A looking out over boats and bustling visitors – it is prime people watching real estate.

At Radisson RED expect a totally novel hotel philosophy and concept. In an effort to connect with an ageless Millennial mindset using art, music and fashion, Radisson RED Silo District is perhaps one of the coolest hotel experiences you'll ever have. Gone is the concept of stuffy accommodation and rigid rules: "We’ve taken care of the essentials, like free high speed WiFi, manning the bar, and showcasing the best local flavours in our kitchens, so that you can focus on creating the best trip". And this extends to their food offering too...

RED Roof

Perfect for all-day summer sipping next to the pool, the RED Roof offers hungry loungers morning bites like croissants and flapjacks, then "cheeky bites" like mac ’n cheese, burgers, pizza, and meat-and-cheese boards. Wash it all down with craft beers from the bright red truck bar (hard to miss).

Celebrating Cape Town's craft food and drink scene, the OUIBar + KTCHN features fresh food simply prepared and sustainably sourced. From baked good and barista coffee, to sundown shakes, small bites, sandwiches and salads, it's a fun and vibey way to satisfy those hunger pangs.

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